Prayer is wealth. Often we think of how little we have, how we haven’t arrived or amassed the millions or billions others already have by a certain age. Well it arrives this evening, a different kind of wealth… prayer. Prayer is this untapped resource of wealth often overlooked. But if we just shift our perspective and imagine tonight how all of us have the potential to pray for others, endlessly, because we have the inherent capability to pray, meditate, or keep someone in our thoughts… elevate them in our minds as we dare to connect to the Highest; to have their best interest in heart, to wish them all that is good on this earth. How much more wealthy can we still want to be if we have the power of prayer within our reach?

when the nothingness swallows me
up and waves engulf me inside its
inevitable chasm pushing me down
towards lifelessness, i wish for
one good thought to fish me out of
my drown, one prayer to reach my
hand and rescue me from the cold
waters; restore me to the sanity
and hope that only contemplation
can revive… that prayer is best
when the seed takes root from the heart

The cleanliness is all. In Hamlet, I know, it says “the readiness is all.” But readiness coupled with cleanliness seem to be the perfect combination to upstart one’s spiritual journey. It’s the new year, month 2 into it, and there’s this need to just flush everything that still remains of the last year or maybe the past. It now becomes more important than ever, to shed all that cocoon we’ve hidden ourselves in, because of an urging need to become like butterflies. To morph into the beings we need to be in order to take flight towards the path of a fantastic change. To not be attached because change is constant. And it is the cleanliness, the cleansing that we must participate in, whether physical, emotional or spiritual, which will open us to a new idea that has always been there in front of eyes which coincidentally happens to be the mirror to our truth.

i’ll sweep it all up,
what a mess i am inside
all the clutter, all that
remains of my past, in
between the crevices of
a wall i did not know i
built, but here they
are towering over me,
fencing me up without
sun to see into the day…
in your eyes where i see
more of myself than i do
before this mirror, this
false reflection of hope
i long to break, tear down,
and sweep away if it means
to gather forth the
universe into my heart

There’s a truth in all of us. This is the one we’re not quite proud of, a persistent thing that won’t disappear even though we’ve hidden it in the farthest and coldest recesses of our minds. We ignore it and yet it creeps in front of us like a contender who adamantly refuses to surrender the fight even though they are beaten and bleeding, broken and smashed beyond recognition. But we recognize it because it is our truth.

At some point, you correlate stagnancy and stillness, which the world has inched around you, with this truth. There’s a point when we exhaust the battle and we give in to accepting this truth. Understanding this truth, embracing it, is probably one of the greatest thing we can do for ourselves because that moment of surrender seems to be the pass to moving forward, for the world to suddenly open up and rejoice in the individual we are meant to be… the truth that one must be.

truth is the indigenous love,
the first occupiers repressed,
forgotten, depressed because
it is primary; and primitive often
castes doubts and distorts the image
in the mirror before me, of who and
what i need to be, instead, my
mission thwarted by reclusivity;
i downplayed the meaning, even
thought impossibility, but the god
inside refuses and stands up for me.
in faith, this occurs naturally;
truth reincarnates out of necessity

In the end, all we really want is another chance. A second chance to be the person we need to be. Another opportunity to set right the path we need to walk righteously towards affecting the world. Our bodies tell us this, but, at times, we allow barriers to win. However, when we stand long enough and open ourselves to listen to the silence urging us, prodding us towards that direction our compass is leading us to, a chance at this life may just be within our reach.

in that place
i sleep too often—
my sacred space
where i recline
an armchair of embrace

your skin so soft,
so close i can feel every
atom’s frenzy in delight
to be at the helm of
your distinct breath

as this same gladness
leaps at hearing you
exhale warm breezes
into my ear and a world
unfolds of possibility

and the spur of a neuron
touches me, magnetically,
charges me from lifeless
state and resurrect me—
you revive a hundred

deaths from inside me,
deliver me from its
womb and, as though i am
born again, you make
light of me once more

It has been a while, I know. Soul searching. It’s natural for writers to do this. Disappear. Vanish from the spaces our medium yields us in order to shed the layer of attachment to become new again. A new year does this to you. It christens me, baptizes me, enlightens me, except this time, I didn’t want to loose that renewal or have me burn out in a month or two without accomplishing even the tiniest of goals. So I ask, how does one stay the course? And the lesson I arrive at is courage. Having courage to push through is a lesson my best friend taught me last night. A friend, who amidst hurt and vulnerability, pushed through with courage, perseverance and great fighting spirit… the tenets she couldn’t recite, but which she demonstrated in front of me despite feeling herself defeated. As difficult as it was to watch, all I could see was my own friend rising from the pain with great courage in order to push through her own obstacle, to remain and finish until the end. Seeing this, seeing her stay the fight within her own ring, made me think of my own courage and how I needed to toughen up like she did in order to stay on my course. To persevere, to rise… to be absolutely courageous.

from ashes we rise,
don’t we?
or do we stay as ashes?
are we then happy to remain
where logs once were before
they were set on fire,
incinerated like illicit
bodies who worshiped
a different god from
you and i?
stand as i
reflect even when i fall
on my knees, even when
it hurts inside, i fight
through the covetous night
and shed this cowardly skin
to show what courage is

Now that the holidays are over, what now? I do miss Christmas though. The spirit of Christmas, that is. I love how giving can somehow break down barriers and open up hearts. But giving shouldn’t just be during the Christmas season. It ought to be everyday, giving, whether it is giving someone comfort, joy, laughter or our “precious” time. A shoulder to lean on, perhaps. Anything is possible. Giving is limitless. Our creativity and sincerity is the only thing that we need to fuel this giving. It all begins with love.

what love gives is not this diamond,
and what is more gold is the gesture
i treasure in each hand crafted measure
inspired by your deepest intention to
wish me joy and happiness, prosperity
and wealth…. no war, but peace can
end chaos and so shall your love endure
what others cannot bear, if you can
rewrap this, i shall receive with all
my heart, your deliberate gift of well-
wishes amply cupped inside your hands

Everyday grants us a new beginning. Making a habit at looking, living each day as new is possibly one of the greatest gifts we can ever receive the entire year. But we take it for granted, live as though it is a continuation of the dreariness that followed us from yesterday and we become burdened by that which we think is inescapable. I know, I know… easier written, but if we just shift our perspectives, everyday can be a renewal, a rechristening of our lives. We can at least attempt to make new our lives before we dismiss it.

rain gathered me under the sky, prodding
like needles under my skin; the uncertainty
was bothersome until i looked into your
violet eyes and knew i would be reborn
as your spirit takes shelter under your
fragile skin, and as your thirst beckons
its first milk against your tongue.
holding you was easy; making you believe
my love as brilliant as stars in the
night sky… even if am mere shadow–
a lifetime i think i may have, each day,
with each renewal, convince you my words
with every letter are more than embraces,
but testimony to the unconditional that
shall not ever waver from my heart

I’m jumping ahead on resolutions and Christmas hasn’t arrived. I can’t help it… it’s the season of giving and though we might be scrambling tonight wrapping gifts, thinking about what kind of gifts to buy tomorrow, I can’t help think that there’s more we can offer than just material things. A time to listen or time spent with children being patient, baking someone a dozen muffins from the heart. Sure, electronics are wonderful… a new Samsung tablet would be really nice, but a gift from the heart is one that I am appreciating lately. The extension of my hand and thought putting together flour, sugar and eggs and creating something delicious over and over. To show someone how much I appreciate them… that’s what I want to say. To wish them a Merry Christmas, not just today, but for everyday that I am alive because everyday ought to be Christmas through kind gestures we gift one another. This is the spirit that should prevail all year long. So why not start today. Merry Christmas y’all!

Christmas we are love and joy,
the fervor of generosity that wishes
to prevail while the spirit dangles
from every doorway like mistletoe
whose desire from kisses align hearts
with mirrored goodness, unparalleled,
without compromise; judges less and
concerned more for you than I… these
hands relay from thought the word
merry encrypted in this bow, red as
the season allows, a vow to give i’ve
wrapped in this gesture with embrace
to blanket you from the cold rain

We are gifted. There are things about us that we are strong in, undoubtedly our best attributes which regenerate itself once we let go and share to this world. There was this quote shared over the radio the other morning on the way to work. I almost ignored it, but only in time did I turn back to that station and catch that bit of wisdom. I can’t remember the quote verbatim, but only to the effect that it is our purpose to find what our individual gift is and it is then our purpose in life to give that gift away. Something about this quote just hit me somehow. The gifts we are so doubtful about; the gifts we participate in and then hide because we are so afraid of criticism… well, these gifts are exactly what we should be gifting this world with, whether it is our writings, our paintings or our songs. Whether it is the bread we make with our hands or the joy we express through our words, these are the gifts that we ought to be sharing with one another. In the spirit of Christmas, locate these gifts within ourselves and find the strength to unleash them because there might just be that one person left inspired to do the same thing. In doing so, we might just nurture positivity and joy throughout the years to come.

when i can no longer hold onto, i
simply open my hands and let go
what isn’t mine in the first place,
but to this world i owe a present
to have, one blessed utterance of
joy and love are still gifts inside
these words no matter how they are
unwrapped with hearts heavy, no
doubt, feeling so depleted,
un-embraced for so long… with this
gift, never shall you be alone again
so long as i can write to relieve you
from the melancholy and the sadness
endured from time to time

I realize that I haven’t written for a while and I don’t know whether it’s the weather or this sudden bouts of coughs that I’ve been blessed with lately that deters me from seeing clearly the lessons that I’m supposed to be learning. And honestly today it came to me. We shouldn’t give up on ourselves. Despite what we may think or what sort of mindset we’ve managed to put ourselves in, we owe it to ourselves not to give up on us or our potential. Because God hasn’t given up on us nor have the people who love us… they haven’t given up on us, and this knowledge alone should be enough to stir us back up from the tundras we’ve trapped ourselves under and get back out there and do what it is we need to do in this world.

so long as love grows strong
and the light that fortifies
glows inside… there is still
a chance: never give up

the world is large enough, for
certain there will be a time,
opportunity to shine, i repeat
again: never give up

if one other soul hasn’t
surrendered, nor their flames
of hope drenched… neither
has God so never give up